Purism and KDE to Work Together on World’s First Truly Free Smartphone

KDE develops Plasma Mobile, a free, open and full-featured graphical environment for mobile devices. Plasma Mobile has been tested on several off-the-shelf devices. However, most smartphones include hardware that requires proprietary software to work. This clashes with KDE’s principles of freedom and openness. It also makes building difficult, since many details of the hardware are kept secret, preventing complete access to all the components.

Purism, the manufacturer that builds high-quality, top of the range and freedom-respecting devices, is currently running a crowdfunding campaign which will allow the company to build the first fully free and open smartphone: The Librem 5.

The shared vision of freedom, openness and personal control for end users has brought KDE and Purism together in a common venture. Both organisations agree that cooperating will help bring a truly free and open source smartphone to the market. KDE and Purism will work together to make this happen.

“Building a Free Software and privacy-focused smartphone has been a dream of the KDE community for a long time. We created Plasma to not just run on desktops and laptops, but for the whole spectrum of devices.” says Lydia Pintscher, President of KDE e.V.. “Partnering with Purism will allow us to ready Plasma Mobile for the real world and integrate it seamlessly with a commercial device for the first time. The Librem 5 will make Plasma Mobile shine the way it deserves.”

“Having full access to Purism’s hardware platform is a dream for the KDE community,” says Lydia Pintscher, President of KDE e.V. “Partnering with Purism will allow us to integrate Plasma Mobile seamlessly with a commercial device for the first time. The Librem 5 will make Plasma Mobile shine the way it deserves.”

“KDE has created an evolved, completely free platform in Plasma Mobile,” says Todd Weaver, CEO of Purism. “We feel that Plasma Mobile will become a serious contender that may break the current duopoly and bring a full-featured, fully free/libre and open source mobile operating system to the market. We look forward to trying out Plasma Mobile on our test hardware and working with KDE’s community.”

About KDE

KDE is an international community of developers, designers, writers, translators and users that work together to achieve a world in which everyone has control over their digital life and enjoys freedom and privacy. KDE produces Plasma, an advanced and friendly desktop and a graphical environment for mobile devices. KDE also fosters and sponsors the creation of hundreds of apps for Linux, Windows, MacOS, Android and many other platforms; as well as frameworks, libraries and utilities that help developers create applications faster and easier.

About Purism

Purism is a Social Purpose Corporation devoted to bringing security, privacy, software freedom, and digital independence to everyone’s personal computing experience.
With operations based in San Francisco (California) and around the world, Purism manufactures premium-quality laptops, tablets and phones, creating beautiful and powerful devices meant to protect users’ digital lives without requiring a compromise on ease of use. Purism designs and assembles its hardware in the United States, carefully selecting internationally sourced components to be privacy-respecting and fully Free-Software-compliant. Security and privacy-centric features come built-in with every product Purism makes, making security and privacy the simpler, logical choice for individuals and businesses.